Seeing Salvation Differently EP133

WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819
Welcome to Finding Our Way. My name's James.
00:00:03.140 --> 00:00:05.580
My good friend Larry and myself are inviting
00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.240
you to join us in the conversations that we're
00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.660
having of our journey to finding our way to the
00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:15.839
goodness of God. God is good. God is love. God
00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.920
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:22.039
not imputing their trespasses against them. So
00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:25.059
come on, let's go. The party has already started.
00:00:57.659 --> 00:01:00.869
I think we should have met him. We're going to
00:01:00.869 --> 00:01:03.890
drink coffee for breakfast. When are we going
00:01:03.890 --> 00:01:09.049
to figure that out? Well, no one's ever accused
00:01:09.049 --> 00:01:16.430
me of being that smart. So, what's your understanding
00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:23.489
of salvation? Maybe take two minutes and articulate
00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:27.870
what it used to be. Then we can talk the rest
00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:35.030
of the day about what it is. Yeah, well, I used
00:01:35.030 --> 00:01:40.730
to have a very, I call it very narrow view of
00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:47.450
salvation. And it was, if I try to summarize
00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:52.890
it, it was everyone's born a sinner, condemned
00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:57.250
to hell, eternal conscience torment. That if
00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:00.799
at some point in your earthly life, You did not
00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:03.920
repent of your sins and believe in Jesus as your
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:10.560
savior. You would spend an eternity in hell of
00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.099
eternal conscious torment. Like a bar. Like a,
00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:19.599
yeah. Eternal. It was that. You were under the
00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:24.900
judgment of God already. And being saved was
00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.960
belief. I still got two minutes. I'm just kidding.
00:02:29.949 --> 00:02:32.849
And then being saved, you know, you believed
00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:36.689
in Jesus. He saved you from that hell. And then
00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:42.110
you get to live with him in heaven forever. It
00:02:42.110 --> 00:02:44.050
wasn't just saying a prayer, though. You had
00:02:44.050 --> 00:02:47.050
to truly believe. And to really believe. Anyway,
00:02:47.270 --> 00:02:50.430
you know, there was some nuances to it. But it
00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:56.210
was, I call it very limited understanding. It
00:02:56.210 --> 00:03:00.270
was basically heaven or hell when you die and
00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:03.990
what you did with Jesus determined that. But
00:03:03.990 --> 00:03:09.949
that was the scope of it. There might be some
00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:15.490
life change or born of the spirit, new creation
00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:20.710
talk and some better living that came out of
00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:28.139
it. If you want to be in the bride. Yeah, there
00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:31.300
was some other nuances, but the crux of the matter
00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:35.979
was basically what you did with Jesus now and
00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:41.080
where you spent eternity later was just the dominating
00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.840
thought. It was just like beating a war drum
00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:55.099
over and over and over. That was it. I don't
00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:58.680
know. It's always, I won't say always, but I
00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:03.240
remember as a kid growing up and an adult going
00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:09.139
to church thinking, you know, it always seemed
00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:15.780
like you beat down. Yeah. That message. You got
00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:23.079
to do better. Yeah. Do more. Yeah, it was always.
00:04:24.110 --> 00:04:28.329
You're worthless. You ought to try harder, do
00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:34.209
better. Be grateful. Constant repetition of you're
00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:37.870
a sinner. To me, the hindering part of it was
00:04:37.870 --> 00:04:41.350
the impression it left you with of the nature
00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:46.089
of God. Psychological, I think. Yeah, that he
00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:51.089
was really a judge looking to execute justice
00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:56.569
exclusively. Zero tolerance. Concerned about
00:04:56.569 --> 00:05:03.029
his holiness. That you offended him. Yes. That
00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:07.790
was a big deal. At least as I understood it.
00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:11.029
I'm not saying anybody meant it. Just saying
00:05:11.029 --> 00:05:13.689
what I walked away with. A lot of confusion about
00:05:13.689 --> 00:05:18.730
the nature of God. Or how I was to understand.
00:05:20.149 --> 00:05:24.399
The God I encountered was love. But then they,
00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:28.300
out of that, I'm trying to get the two to go
00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:32.240
together of what does love look like. So I had
00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.040
a lot of trouble with that. And then the other
00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:39.680
thing with that heaven or hell when you die idea,
00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:47.740
it becomes a fear -based gospel response. And
00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:50.120
hey, I'll have to be the first to admit that.
00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:54.339
My primary motivation to get saved, I didn't
00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.420
want to go to hell. I realized I was headed there
00:05:57.420 --> 00:06:01.060
and I needed some help. That's how I met the
00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:06.939
Lord. It was in that fear -based gospel and lived
00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:11.699
in a fear -based relationship and still struggle
00:06:11.699 --> 00:06:14.279
with it sometimes, some days. Perfect love casts
00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:20.620
out all fear. what he has been slowly doing,
00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:26.240
getting every fearful thought or emotion out
00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.579
gently and kindly and patiently with his love
00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:34.060
and with his truth of what he's really like,
00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:38.240
how he really sees me, what life in this world
00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.620
is about and the life to come is about. So you're
00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:45.100
learning to repent. Yeah, so I'm changing my
00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:47.819
thinking, believing the good news, and experiencing
00:06:47.819 --> 00:06:51.519
more and more of his kingdom. I'm like, man,
00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:54.779
it can't be that good. I have to pinch myself.
00:06:55.399 --> 00:07:00.500
Yeah. Say, Lord, is it? It is that good. Even
00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:05.620
more so. Even if I have periods of depression
00:07:05.620 --> 00:07:10.980
and sadness and fear and anxiety and worry and
00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:14.639
doubt, It doesn't change what's true. He loves
00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.120
you enough to be right there in the midst of
00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.540
it with you. Yeah, because he knows what's at
00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:25.439
the root of it. Yeah. And he wants to get at
00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.779
the root of it. That's right. I just like some
00:07:27.779 --> 00:07:33.300
symptom relief. And he wants some real healing.
00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.759
Yeah. Let me do a book plug for my buddy. I had
00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.819
a fella come up to me. I was at the... Men's
00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:42.300
Conference, with Baxter Currier and Jason Clark,
00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:45.879
the perichoresis group in Tennessee. I was in
00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:47.740
the parking lot and a dude saw me get out of
00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:49.920
my truck and went in and was going to get me
00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.040
some water or something inside and he met me
00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:55.060
over there at the refreshment table. This is
00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:58.180
what he said, you had to stop three or four times
00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:02.279
to fill that truck up on the way here? I'm like,
00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:06.259
I've stopped once. He said, let's have a big
00:08:06.259 --> 00:08:10.779
tank. I said, man. 28 gallons, I think. I get
00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:13.439
about 400 miles out of a tank. Oh, that's great.
00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.279
I could have made the whole trip, but I didn't
00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:21.279
start with a full tank. But anyway, so we just
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.660
started talking. And it wasn't 30 seconds, man.
00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:32.379
I was crying. I'm like... You going to cry again
00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:34.720
over James? I said, I don't even think about
00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.220
it when I buy gas. I just fill up. I said, because
00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:41.720
there used to be a time when I bought gas, I
00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:46.360
spent $10. Because that's all I had was $10.
00:08:46.659 --> 00:08:50.720
I said, not anymore. And I raised my hand. I
00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:55.500
said, God has blessed me. It's exciting. Anyway,
00:08:55.659 --> 00:09:00.940
his name is Bob Watts or Bobby Watts. Him and
00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:03.519
his wife have written some books. This is just
00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.789
two of them. This one, I Am With You. You can
00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:10.529
get it on Amazon. Bobby Watts. Bobby and Christy
00:09:10.529 --> 00:09:14.210
Watts. It's a children's book. It walks through
00:09:14.210 --> 00:09:19.870
every I am statement of Jesus and puts it in
00:09:19.870 --> 00:09:23.750
perspective for us. This one is Before You Were
00:09:23.750 --> 00:09:28.889
Here. This is a book about creation. I haven't
00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:36.559
done Ephesians 1 -4 before you were here. Actually,
00:09:36.620 --> 00:09:39.080
he walks through the creation story and talks
00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:43.279
about how God created everything before we were.
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:45.820
Let me just read this. It says, You were wanted
00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:48.220
before the first light. You were loved before
00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:52.220
the first star. Everything you see, the sky,
00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:54.639
the water, the trees, the animals, the sun, and
00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:58.779
the moon, and all those stars, was made by someone
00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:02.779
who was thinking about you. The whole time, welcome
00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:06.120
home. So he just lays out the creation story
00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:10.379
and talks about how God created it as a habitation
00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:13.940
for us. But anyway, he's had several books. I
00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:16.679
don't know how many on Amazon. That one right
00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:18.559
there I actually read. I didn't read this one
00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.840
yet, but they're pretty cool, pretty good. Look
00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.419
great. It's hard finding a children's book that's
00:10:26.419 --> 00:10:29.120
not based on separation. None of these books
00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:34.269
are. Yes. These are based on a good God. So you
00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:37.149
explained pretty good about what you used to
00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:40.409
believe salvation to be. What is your understanding
00:10:40.409 --> 00:10:43.929
now? When I think about the way I consider the
00:10:43.929 --> 00:10:51.009
term salvation today, it's a lot broader and
00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:55.570
encompassing than the narrow view I once had.
00:10:55.690 --> 00:11:02.230
It is God saving us from everything. that hindered
00:11:02.230 --> 00:11:07.049
our understanding and reception of his love and
00:11:07.049 --> 00:11:11.409
his life and bringing us into a full participation
00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:17.190
of life with him as he intended it and as he
00:11:17.190 --> 00:11:21.090
is in the here and now as well as that which
00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:28.169
is to come. And that is a total healing of our
00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:33.960
being. body, soul, spirit is a total restoration
00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:39.820
and reconciliation of the relationship not only
00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:45.580
with God but with one another and a use the word
00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:50.019
of some of the church fathers recapitulation
00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:56.259
of creation of turning it back to the original
00:11:56.259 --> 00:12:04.870
intent that And it's a whole lot more relational
00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:09.250
understanding than it is a judicial understanding.
00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:18.149
It is God doing a work for us and as us at the
00:12:18.149 --> 00:12:27.450
deepest level of our being to heal us from the
00:12:27.450 --> 00:12:32.370
inside out. You think there's more better to
00:12:32.370 --> 00:12:36.509
be experienced? Oh, there's no doubt. Now. No
00:12:36.509 --> 00:12:40.570
doubt. I mean, Jesus has said, I've come that
00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:42.750
you may have life and have it more abundantly.
00:12:43.850 --> 00:12:48.970
Yeah. Yeah. But I've come to think of salvation
00:12:48.970 --> 00:12:52.350
like you're talking about. I mean, that's one
00:12:52.350 --> 00:12:57.309
of the things that... been a driving force in
00:12:57.309 --> 00:13:00.450
my life is to, you've said it this way before,
00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:03.789
we want the life that Jesus got out of the tomb
00:13:03.789 --> 00:13:08.070
for. And the idea of, man, it's just got to be
00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:11.950
better than this. There's got to be more. I mean,
00:13:12.009 --> 00:13:17.409
that's still a driving force in my life, a question.
00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:21.649
There's got to be more. Surely there's more.
00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:27.710
One of the things I've come to look at it this
00:13:27.710 --> 00:13:34.070
way. Growing up, the emphasis is on you're not
00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:38.450
right. You're a sinner. And then we rush to the
00:13:38.450 --> 00:13:43.850
cross. Jesus died for you. If you'll do whatever
00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:45.970
needs to be done, depending on what church you're
00:13:45.970 --> 00:13:48.210
in or whatever, who was telling you, you had
00:13:48.210 --> 00:13:50.409
to do something to get in on. But I've learned
00:13:50.409 --> 00:13:54.409
listening to and reading. guys like Baxter Kruger,
00:13:54.549 --> 00:14:01.370
we rush right past the incarnation. And thus,
00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:06.590
we don't realize what God accomplished in becoming
00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:13.649
a man. Right. Embracing humanity. He has delivered
00:14:13.649 --> 00:14:20.269
us. Yes. He has scooped us up into the arms of
00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:24.529
the triune God. Yeah. And we are held in his
00:14:24.529 --> 00:14:27.350
embrace because that's where we got started.
00:14:27.490 --> 00:14:29.370
And that's the only way he's ever seen it. That's
00:14:29.370 --> 00:14:32.710
right. We just couldn't see it. That's right.
00:14:32.889 --> 00:14:36.629
One way I might say that is that when God became
00:14:36.629 --> 00:14:42.370
a man in the person of Jesus, as such, he became
00:14:42.370 --> 00:14:47.970
a kinsman redeemer of humanity because he became
00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:53.080
related to us all. And as such, he was going
00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:58.820
to redeem us all. Well, that's what he does.
00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:03.659
That's who he is. And he has the ability to do
00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:08.740
that. Yeah. Yeah, he's the one that created everything.
00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:15.759
Everything is created in, through, and by him
00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:21.379
and exists and hold together in him. That one,
00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:27.759
became a man. Well, and it's obvious from human
00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.879
history in the Bible story that humanity or any
00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:36.240
human, one human even, could not by themselves
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:40.799
change things. They couldn't, if I use the term,
00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:44.480
save themselves. Couldn't change the status of
00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:48.960
stuff. Everyone was in need of a Savior. But
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:54.779
He is that Savior of all. Matthew says You call
00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:58.759
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:07.860
from their sin. So, I mean, just thinking about
00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:11.899
the incarnation, though, I know the ideas of
00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:15.120
the federal head of Adam. Adam was representative
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:20.440
of humanity. Because of Adam's sin, we all sinned.
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:25.360
We all fell in the pit. Bless God, the Bible
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:30.080
talks about the last Adam. Yeah. Who the first
00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.860
Adam was a picture of the last Adam that was
00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:38.259
to come. So Adam even has his existence and history
00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:42.600
and purpose in the last Adam. Yes. It's all about
00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:45.779
the last Adam. Yeah. Because we got started in
00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:49.899
Christ before the foundation of the world. And
00:16:49.899 --> 00:16:54.440
then he would come, this last Adam. If the first
00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:56.779
Adam did something, and you can read it in Romans
00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.980
5, the last Adam did something that accomplished
00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:04.960
something much more. By grace, by the act of
00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.440
one, by the obedience of one. Yeah, it seems
00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:13.339
like it's four or five times in Romans 5 he talks
00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:16.220
much more. Yeah, yeah. We got this in the first
00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:18.720
Adam, much more we have in the last Adam. Yeah.
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.299
And what did you do to get it in the first? Nothing.
00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.200
Oh, it's good news. It just gets better and better,
00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:32.940
boy. So thinking about the salvation and the
00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:39.940
incarnation of God becoming a man, he, I mean,
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:46.680
it's just who he was as the creator and sustainer
00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:51.079
of all of this. the Father's eternal Son anointed
00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:55.099
in the Holy Spirit, that one, the Word, became
00:17:55.099 --> 00:18:05.240
flesh. Flesh can't not be affected. No. That's
00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.440
part of the redemptive work of Jesus was to redeem
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:15.599
our flesh. I'm not sure I could articulate all
00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.190
of what I even think about that. But there was
00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:23.869
a belief in humanity that our problem was our
00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:27.690
body, was our flesh. But when God became flesh,
00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:29.670
we're like, well, wait a minute. Can't be anything
00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:31.910
wrong with my flesh because now God is flesh.
00:18:33.089 --> 00:18:36.670
So he redeemed it. The realization of who that
00:18:36.670 --> 00:18:39.930
is in the flesh. When you saw Jesus, you saw
00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:43.009
the one that's holding the stars in the sky.
00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:47.559
Yeah. You saw the one that's. Feeding the birds.
00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:53.960
So what happens to him necessarily happens to
00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:58.200
the cosmos because it's all connected. He's the
00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:03.839
mediator of the union. Yes, the mediator. In
00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:10.339
him was life. So when he died, we all died. He
00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:13.380
was buried. We were buried. And when he was raised
00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:19.289
up. We were raised up, and we now live on this
00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:21.809
side of the resurrection, that new creation,
00:19:22.089 --> 00:19:25.670
that newness of life, and it's the life of Christ
00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:29.130
that's available. We always kick it out into
00:19:29.130 --> 00:19:33.309
the future, but the life of the age that we perceive
00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:38.890
that is to come, it has come in Jesus. And we
00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:42.859
get in on it. I have been crucified with Christ.
00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:46.019
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives
00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:49.619
in me. We live in oneness with the Father, Son,
00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:54.000
and Holy Spirit. Man, that's a salvation to be
00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.559
enjoyed today. Because we get to do life with
00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:02.079
Papa. Yes. And I think that's part of most Christians'
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.160
problems is that everyone gets to do life with
00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:11.009
the Father. And that's part of the point of Salvation
00:20:11.009 --> 00:20:16.750
is the relationship of enjoying the shared life
00:20:16.750 --> 00:20:20.630
and relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit at
00:20:20.630 --> 00:20:24.289
all times for all people. And that as such, even
00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:30.630
ordinary life is redeemed. Not just special things
00:20:30.630 --> 00:20:34.950
or things that... There's no sacred and secular.
00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:40.259
I don't think so. No. Even though... I know how
00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:42.720
we think about that, but I don't think there's
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.920
a... That's a false dichotomy. Yes. That... That's
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.420
how I use that big word. I know that, yeah, yeah.
00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:57.099
You learn that in Cotton Valley? It's a lie,
00:20:57.339 --> 00:21:01.529
Larry. All of life is sacred. That's what you're
00:21:01.529 --> 00:21:03.509
trying to say. That's what I'm trying to say.
00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:06.710
Sometimes the impression you get in church, there
00:21:06.710 --> 00:21:10.309
are some things that are more spiritual or you're
00:21:10.309 --> 00:21:14.450
doing with God these things, whereas this other
00:21:14.450 --> 00:21:18.849
stuff is ordinary and mundane and less spiritual.
00:21:19.269 --> 00:21:21.410
And I don't think that's how we ought to think
00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:25.730
about it, that doing the simple, ordinary things
00:21:25.730 --> 00:21:29.450
of life. with the lord is just as valuable important
00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:36.049
and enjoyable as maybe what you might whatever
00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:38.970
you want to put in that higher tier might be
00:21:38.970 --> 00:21:42.890
it's all the same to him i think it was martin
00:21:42.890 --> 00:21:48.029
luther even that said the common housewife working
00:21:48.029 --> 00:21:50.390
in the kitchen he didn't say exactly like this
00:21:50.390 --> 00:21:57.910
is brings as much glory to god As the preacher
00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:02.069
preaching in the pulpit. Yes. But we don't think
00:22:02.069 --> 00:22:05.490
that way. No. But that's what's true. Yeah, whether
00:22:05.490 --> 00:22:07.569
you're raising your kids, whether you're cleaning
00:22:07.569 --> 00:22:11.670
the house or cleaning toilets. Yes. You can do
00:22:11.670 --> 00:22:14.349
it with God, and that's what makes it sacred.
00:22:15.130 --> 00:22:19.869
Yes. In that sense. But it's all of life, and
00:22:19.869 --> 00:22:22.230
that's the thing. He wants to do it with us.
00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:30.299
He's in us living. In us and through us. Well,
00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:33.079
without him, we can do nothing. Oh, come on now.
00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:35.819
That's what he said. That's just some of my spiritual
00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:39.519
stuff. Well, there's a lot of ways to understand
00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:42.400
that phrase. But it says, without him, we can
00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:48.119
do nothing. Well, one way to rephrase that, when
00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:50.759
he says, without me, you can do nothing, that
00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.640
means you can't do anything that I'm not a part
00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:56.829
of it. That would be one way to understand that.
00:22:57.269 --> 00:23:00.029
I realize he's teaching us to abide and have
00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:04.410
a conscious awareness of it. But he's really
00:23:04.410 --> 00:23:07.730
saying, get this conscious awareness because
00:23:07.730 --> 00:23:09.630
you can't really do anything that I'm not with
00:23:09.630 --> 00:23:12.309
you. If he's in you, how are you going to get
00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:15.190
away from him? You can't run off and leave me.
00:23:17.009 --> 00:23:20.210
You may not listen to me, acknowledge me, like
00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:25.259
it, but we're together. I think I hear him saying
00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:28.200
right now, I'll be right here when you get to
00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:30.660
the end of yourself. Yes, and he'll let you do
00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:35.579
that because love does that. I'll be right here.
00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:37.680
If you're going to be stubborn about it, go ahead.
00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:42.359
I'm not going to leave you and forsake you. Yeah,
00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:45.680
that's right. But if you want to go gather up
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.200
some wood and hay and stubble, go right ahead.
00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:50.359
We'll burn that up. We'll have a huge bonfire
00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:53.779
one of these days. That's right. That's right.
00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:56.380
You reminded me of this verse in Ephesians 4,
00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:00.579
6. It says there's one God and Father of all.
00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:04.640
Yeah. Who is above all and through all and in
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:09.519
you all. Yeah. There's a lot of alls in that
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:16.900
verse. Mm -hmm. Is he God of all? That's a simple,
00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:19.880
easy acknowledgement, isn't it? Is he God of
00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:27.890
all? He is above all. It starts getting a little
00:24:27.890 --> 00:24:32.369
harder when you say he's through all. Father
00:24:32.369 --> 00:24:41.650
of all. And in you all. Yeah. Yeah, it makes
00:24:41.650 --> 00:24:45.450
you change how you think about things. You quit
00:24:45.450 --> 00:24:48.990
looking at people, are you in or out? Yeah. You
00:24:48.990 --> 00:24:51.450
start looking at people as... We're a family,
00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:55.869
and we have one Father. Nobody gets on the planet
00:24:55.869 --> 00:25:00.829
without the Father's willing. Yes. John 1. Yes.
00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:05.769
Born not of the will of the flesh or men or the,
00:25:05.890 --> 00:25:08.529
I can't remember exactly how I said it, but of
00:25:08.529 --> 00:25:15.529
God. About three things there that lets us know
00:25:15.529 --> 00:25:18.750
it's nothing that we did. And that's just how
00:25:18.750 --> 00:25:24.049
I'm at it. I think, being born. Verse 12 says,
00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:30.009
But as many as received him, to them he gave
00:25:30.009 --> 00:25:32.990
the right to become children of God, even to
00:25:32.990 --> 00:25:35.789
those who believe in his name. It says right
00:25:35.789 --> 00:25:38.910
there, you've got to believe. Who were born,
00:25:39.009 --> 00:25:44.190
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
00:25:44.190 --> 00:25:48.490
of the will of man. but of God. So it's not of
00:25:48.490 --> 00:25:51.029
blood, not of the flesh, and not of man, born
00:25:51.029 --> 00:25:54.670
of God. And I think that's talking about those
00:25:54.670 --> 00:25:57.970
that it says in verse 9, that was the true light
00:25:57.970 --> 00:26:00.789
which gives light to every man who comes into
00:26:00.789 --> 00:26:03.210
the world. See, that's the context of it, coming
00:26:03.210 --> 00:26:05.549
into the world. We come into the world children
00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:10.390
of God, belonging to Him because He desired us
00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:13.710
to be here in our minds, mostly because of our
00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:17.650
religious upbringing. or lack of in the worldly
00:26:17.650 --> 00:26:20.150
upbringing, however, whatever culture you grew
00:26:20.150 --> 00:26:22.950
up in, we think I'm a child of the devil. The
00:26:22.950 --> 00:26:26.130
devil given life and brought you into this world.
00:26:26.269 --> 00:26:28.869
No, it wasn't the devil that did it. God brought
00:26:28.869 --> 00:26:31.089
us into the world, but we're children of the
00:26:31.089 --> 00:26:34.390
devil. So we get this life and it's for the purpose
00:26:34.390 --> 00:26:37.210
of knowing him and learning who he is and who
00:26:37.210 --> 00:26:39.450
we are. So it has to do with getting educated.
00:26:39.670 --> 00:26:44.819
As children, And we receive him. He helps us
00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:49.220
mature into sons that represent him. That's the
00:26:49.220 --> 00:26:53.319
deal. That's what he's shooting for. Conforming
00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:57.000
us to the image of his son, our elder brother.
00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:00.539
The blueprint of the life that is ours. But yeah,
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.079
him being the father of all. We're talking about
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:05.559
salvation. We're not talking about getting saved.
00:27:06.269 --> 00:27:09.849
from an angry father, an angry God that is wrath
00:27:09.849 --> 00:27:14.109
-filled and hates us. Hey, thanks for listening
00:27:14.109 --> 00:27:18.230
to us talk about how we're finding our way. We
00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:21.410
hope it helps you find your way to experiencing
00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:25.049
the goodness of our Heavenly Father, the abundant
00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:29.789
life Jesus shares with us now, and the immeasurable
00:27:29.789 --> 00:27:34.150
love He has for everyone. For more information
00:27:34.150 --> 00:27:39.039
or to contact us, go to our website findingourway
00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:40.700
.co.